According to a SEGA.jp interview with Ryoichi Hasegawa, the game was banned in Germany for its “excessive” content. While not banned in Japan, Ryoichi mentioned that there were news reports about the game in Japan, describing it as “a game where you chase around and try to capture women in their underwear”.

Footage of the never released VHS-based NEMO can be viewed in the Mega-CD version of Night Trap by entering a button code when the credits read "In Memory of Stephen D. Hassenfield". This footage shows Hasbro executives taking a look at Scene of the Crime (the prototype for Night Trap) in December 1987.

The game was once taken off the selves of Toys "R" Us and F.A.O. Schwarz stores for being too violent and sexual. This was in response to the Senate Judiciary and Government Affairs Committee hearing on video game violence in 1993.